Apple fanboy
macrumors Ivy Bridge
Indeed. I think I’ve only had one tea all day as it’s been too warm. So just water. But that, the lack of sleep and the constant fan blowing is all contributing to my headache.
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rm5
macrumors 601
Yes, he played Bach, and also an arrangement of Abinoni Adagio for organ and trombone, which was especially stunning. I really enjoyed it
boswald
macrumors 68030
My girlfriend surprised me with tickets to see Marilyn Manson in August! So thrilled. I was never allowed to see him when I was growing up, but now that mom passed away and I'm an adult, I can finally do it. Only a two-hour drive from my house too!
AVBeatMan
macrumors 603
In the office again today and no A/C. Yesterday I came home at 12.20 as just too hot and finished off at home. I'lll be doing the same again today. Also, I'll be counting the full day towards my 60% office time. Let's see what they say....
Scepticalscribe
macrumors Haswell
Apple fanboy
macrumors Ivy Bridge
We are supposed to do 3 days out of 5 but I said I’m not doing that. 1 day a week is more than enough for me!
No AC at home either but fans and plenty of bottled water in the fridge.
Had lunch in the garden in the shade. A bit of a breeze helped a lot.
Scepticalscribe
macrumors Haswell
Here, and elsewhere, I have written about how much I loathe winter.
Much of my dislike comes from the cold and wet weather of winter, but most of it is on account of the dismal, deeply depressing dreariness of the light-deprived months of winter.
By way of contrast, I thrill to spring and summer: The heat, the warmth, the lengthening days and long evenings, but, above all, for the wonderful quality of light.
This morning, as the morning sun (my bedroom faces east) streamed into the room, I was happily reading from 06.00 until 08.00, finishing a book I have since returned to the library.
Bliss.
Much of my dislike comes from the cold and wet weather of winter, but most of it is on account of the dismal, deeply depressing dreariness of the light-deprived months of winter.
By way of contrast, I thrill to spring and summer: The heat, the warmth, the lengthening days and long evenings, but, above all, for the wonderful quality of light.
This morning, as the morning sun (my bedroom faces east) streamed into the room, I was happily reading from 06.00 until 08.00, finishing a book I have since returned to the library.
Bliss.
AVBeatMan
macrumors 603
A bit cooler today. Office again tomorrow but only have to do 5 hours so should be back home for 13.00 to finish off.
Scepticalscribe
macrumors Haswell
A lot cooler today - the temperature has fallen by the best part of 10C; hence, the need to don a lightweight Italian wool pullover (black, one with a quarter zip, worn over a black t-shirt, in a way, almost paying homage to - or, honouring,- Mikel Arteta, but today, I am wearing stone coloured khakis, rather the charcoal slacks he is more usually attired in).
Scepticalscribe
macrumors Haswell
Friends in academia are reporting that the (ab)use of AI has now become a scourge in the classroom, in assignments, essays, and - worst of all - in some cases, in exams.
One friend fiercely said that she would recommend hauling students back to an exam hall to sit their exams in person, under close supervision, remarking that for all of the stress of such a setting, at least one could rest assured that the work the students submitted was their own, and not scripted by AI.
A neighbour - who is a schoolteacher - told me today that some - too many - of his students "are parented by device" and that and that their attention spans are negligible ("almost non-existent").
Others in teaching - at all levels - have observed that the social skills of many of the students suffered during the pandemic and have yet to fully recover.
One friend fiercely said that she would recommend hauling students back to an exam hall to sit their exams in person, under close supervision, remarking that for all of the stress of such a setting, at least one could rest assured that the work the students submitted was their own, and not scripted by AI.
A neighbour - who is a schoolteacher - told me today that some - too many - of his students "are parented by device" and that and that their attention spans are negligible ("almost non-existent").
Others in teaching - at all levels - have observed that the social skills of many of the students suffered during the pandemic and have yet to fully recover.
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adrianlondon
macrumors 604
From what I've read (no personal experience) some teachers are telling their class to use AI to write their homework.
I guess they think they're being cool and modern, and it does teach them a skill. How to use AI.
However, if another teacher of another subject does this, they're teaching the kids absolutely nothing. They've already learnt how to use AI to write an assignment. So now the kids know one thing, and have learnt nothing about the individual subjects.
When AI gets things wrong ("hallucinates" seems to be the word picked to describe this) they won't know, as they don't know anything about the answer given.
I'm hoping this isn't a common thing in schools.
I guess they think they're being cool and modern, and it does teach them a skill. How to use AI.
However, if another teacher of another subject does this, they're teaching the kids absolutely nothing. They've already learnt how to use AI to write an assignment. So now the kids know one thing, and have learnt nothing about the individual subjects.
When AI gets things wrong ("hallucinates" seems to be the word picked to describe this) they won't know, as they don't know anything about the answer given.
I'm hoping this isn't a common thing in schools.
Scepticalscribe
macrumors Haswell
The teacher with whom I was chatting today said that one of the problems with AI is that the students no longer understand what they have written (such as linking arguments, or facts, or independently drawing conclusions) as they have not had to think about - which is what learning is all about - what they were writing.
"It's all copy-and-paste, or AI", he said gloomily.
Apple fanboy
macrumors Ivy Bridge
Trust me. It’s not just education where this is a problem. Why learn and understand a subject when you can make it appear you do?
Euroamerican
macrumors 6502a
Most of the AI generated "results" stuff coming through from Google as "page one" search results is looking rather copy/pasty. So copy/paste by student scholars of copy/past junk. Depressing.
Mitthrawnuruodo
Moderator emeritus
I'm teaching Frontend Development at a higher level vocational school, though for how long, I'm not sure, the decline in student numbers is starting to hurt, but that's for another thread, I think, but the main point is that AI has changed our field...probably forever.
Now, we've always had issues with different kinds of "plagiarism", from taking stuff from Stack overflow, sharing code, up to just basically copying existing projects, so the issues now associated with AI isn't new, but it's made the ease of witch students can "cheat" a couple of orders more available. An AI can, basically, generate a week long Course Assignment in 5 minutes.
But, the industry actually want's developers that can use the new AI tools, so we cannot ban them outright (and that would, IMHO, just have been stupid to do, the modern equivalent of sticking our collective heads in the sand)
So, we try to teach them how to use the new tools, while still learning the fundamentals. Because - as you say with writing - if they cannot assess the code they get back from the AI, then they have no real idea what they deliver (almost said "have no real idea what they are doing"). If they just get the AI code and don't know how to debug it, even if it works at a superficial level there may be - and often are - underlying issues.
And just as important, if they know the fundamentals they can - much more efficiently - ask the AIs the right questions, both initially, but just as importantly - if not more so - when trying to tweak and fix the (often flawed) first responses from the AIs, and thereby get better end results.
So, among other things, we've introduced a new AI Policy (that expands on our old plagiarism rules), where we basically say they can use AI all they want, but they need to keep track of their usage, and there are still some things not allowed:
And we follow that up in our academic conduct rules:
Basically, if the students are using AI to learn, then it's OK, if they use AI to do the work for them, it's not.
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DaveFromCampbelltown
macrumors 68020
An Australian academic, Kylie Moore-Gilbert, has just written an opinion piece in The Age, addressing just this point.
The article is behind a paywall, but has been posted in Reddit , in r/aussie.
www.reddit.com-slash-r-slash-aussie-slash-comments-slash-1tokq59-slash-im_an_academic_but_ive_told_my_stepdaughter_to (replace the -slash- with /)
adrianlondon
macrumors 604
I was going to use AI to sort out the slash text just for the irony, but then decided simply to google im_an_academic_but_ive_told_my_stepdaughter_to
rm5
macrumors 601
I hope you will read this. I am going to attempt to answer this question in hopefully a convincing way, because I feel very strongly about this, especially as fewer people see the value in an education. Not to center around the United States, but I heard a statistic that only 30% of Americans believe in the value of a college education.
Going to college has allowed me to do the following (not a complete list):
Society will eventually figure out what AI's limits are (both computationally and ethically). If "economic woes" are part of the reason behind citizens' declining interest in college, that, too is cyclical. More serious thought needs to be put into these questions before blanket conclusions can be drawn.
You cannot claim that something is "worthless" without looking at its values first. And, not everyone wants to pursue AI, software, finance, tech, law, business, or medicine - the paths that seem the most "straightforward" and - SUPPOSEDLY - lead to the "most money." The "corporatization" of education upsets me to no end; fortunately, my institution I feel is still "normal." To those who think college is "worthless," please re-examine using statistics, critical thinking, and deep consideration into your values. And, to those who think that college is just about getting a job, read my above list.
And, this needs its own paragraph - my word, GET OFF SOCIAL MEDIA.
Going to college has allowed me to do the following (not a complete list):
- Study jazz music with the best teachers I could ever work with
- Study avant-garde/experimental music
- Study classical piano in addition to jazz (what I was brought up under)
- Play the piano with intention; wisely interpret pieces in bold, new, and unexpected ways, but always with a sense of purpose foremost; come at the instrument with a sense of relaxation and calm
- Perform Steve Reich's "Music for 18 Musicians"
- Play in a big band with a world-famous drummer
- Travel to New York to perform
- Become very close friends with one of the best classical pianists I've ever met (truly an honor, as I am not involved in classical music at all back home)
- Live in an entirely new part of the country
- Learn about new career paths I didn't even know existed for me
- Study political science in addition to music (not to become a politician, but because I like the way political scientists think)
- Learn to listen to others better
- Learn what I do and don't want out of a career
- Be around thoughtful people who care
- Learn to respect people whose opinions I don't agree with
- Learn to put two unrelated sources together to form new, bigger conclusions
- Learn to take things slowly
- Learn that one does not need to choose a career at the age of 20 - or 25 - or even 30.
- Learn what my stress limit is, how many things I can do at once
- Take risks
- Learn to accept change
Society will eventually figure out what AI's limits are (both computationally and ethically). If "economic woes" are part of the reason behind citizens' declining interest in college, that, too is cyclical. More serious thought needs to be put into these questions before blanket conclusions can be drawn.
You cannot claim that something is "worthless" without looking at its values first. And, not everyone wants to pursue AI, software, finance, tech, law, business, or medicine - the paths that seem the most "straightforward" and - SUPPOSEDLY - lead to the "most money." The "corporatization" of education upsets me to no end; fortunately, my institution I feel is still "normal." To those who think college is "worthless," please re-examine using statistics, critical thinking, and deep consideration into your values. And, to those who think that college is just about getting a job, read my above list.
And, this needs its own paragraph - my word, GET OFF SOCIAL MEDIA.
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rm5
macrumors 601
And, if you're "parented by device," then clearly your real parents are sorely screwing up. I had no technology of my own until roughly the age of 15. I get it, I'm "old" (well, older than children nowadays), but parents handing kids a device at 15 today would absolutely still work. There isn't an excuse. "My kid needs to have a cell phone because I'll need to be in touch with them." Not at the age of 8, you won't. Not even at 12. There's something called the school office that you can call if something comes up. At 15, they'd be entering high school and perhaps more on their own, learning to drive, etc. - so maybe warranted then. But by then, they're old enough anyway to hopefully use the device responsibly.
Apple fanboy
macrumors Ivy Bridge
I agree that children being on social media at an early age is not doing their mental health or even their general health any favours.
I read an article yesterday about this very thing. The UK government are exploring the ban of under 16’s on social media.
I hope they do.
For context I had no internet when I was a teenager as it hadn’t been invented. I’m grateful for that. Gave me the opportunity to be a child and not be bombarded with online crap when I was young and impressionable.
Apple fanboy
macrumors Ivy Bridge
So I read a lot of your posts about university and can tell you really enjoy it.
I think the trouble with a lot of education these days is the college is not teaching what the young people need to be successful in the real world. I see it with many of the graduates we have taken on. They generally don’t have a good work ethic or basic knowledge about how stuff really works.
Now I appreciate when I started work I had knowledge and skills gaps also. But I don’t see a lot of people leaving education with an idea of what is required of them.
I think college is great if you can afford it and there is a career path at the end of it. Lots of young people are currently studying courses that will never lead to a career (or a course that is so heavily taught that there would never be enough jobs in that field at the end of it).
I think for many young people learning a trade or an apprenticeship would serve them better.
The article yesterday was about the number of young people not in education or work which is on the rise. Of course the problem is, how will they find their place in the world if they just lay in bed all day (literally what the article said) on social media dreaming of becoming an influencer.
decafjava
macrumors 603
Well, I am so pleased to read this and happy that there are youth among the Gen Z that think like you and that you and a few other youth are taking part in this forum. Reminds me of some of the best among our exchange students.
Edit: Says the guy who always has a cartoon/anime avatar and a youtube link to an anime scene.
adrianlondon
macrumors 604
As someone living in Europe, where going to University is cheaper than the US (almost free in some countries, and free* when I went many years ago), it's being on a campus with lots of others the same age which really opened my eyes to the world outside of London. Moving out of home, even though it was into halls and back home with parents during the long holidays, matured me in many ways.
I recently did a master's degree here in Switzerland, where most of the other students were 24-30, and this was not a campus uni. Chatting with them all, their undergraduate degrees were also at a non-campus college. In other words, they commuted for lectures and then went back home. So they didn't mingle anywhere near as much with their peers.
If it's possible, and you know which subject you'd like to learn for a few years, picking a campus uni while relatively young will really help.
* The UK government even contributed to my accommodation and general expenses for the 3 years - this was in the late 1980s.
o0o - rant time!
I have to note that back when I did my bachelors, only 5% of the population went to University so it was affordable for the UK govt. This also meant that all degrees were valuable. One could study contemporary art and get a job in most fields simply because having a university education was considered valuable. If you could show that you thought about the mathematics in art (as a friend of mine did) you could move into pretty much any well-paid career you wanted.
At one point, I think around the year 2000, the goal was to have 50% of the population going to University. Manufacturing and manual labour was out, and everyone was meant to get jobs in IT or finance. Of course, funding half the youth to do a degree isn't affordable, so that's when the charges ramped up. And, with so much competition, non-relevant subjects are immediately discounted at interviews. The value of education in itself has dropped to almost zero. It's experience and relevant subject knowledge only.
And now we have loads of graduates who can't make anything and whose jobs are threatened by AI. But that's another story,.
I recently did a master's degree here in Switzerland, where most of the other students were 24-30, and this was not a campus uni. Chatting with them all, their undergraduate degrees were also at a non-campus college. In other words, they commuted for lectures and then went back home. So they didn't mingle anywhere near as much with their peers.
If it's possible, and you know which subject you'd like to learn for a few years, picking a campus uni while relatively young will really help.
* The UK government even contributed to my accommodation and general expenses for the 3 years - this was in the late 1980s.
o0o - rant time!
I have to note that back when I did my bachelors, only 5% of the population went to University so it was affordable for the UK govt. This also meant that all degrees were valuable. One could study contemporary art and get a job in most fields simply because having a university education was considered valuable. If you could show that you thought about the mathematics in art (as a friend of mine did) you could move into pretty much any well-paid career you wanted.
At one point, I think around the year 2000, the goal was to have 50% of the population going to University. Manufacturing and manual labour was out, and everyone was meant to get jobs in IT or finance. Of course, funding half the youth to do a degree isn't affordable, so that's when the charges ramped up. And, with so much competition, non-relevant subjects are immediately discounted at interviews. The value of education in itself has dropped to almost zero. It's experience and relevant subject knowledge only.
And now we have loads of graduates who can't make anything and whose jobs are threatened by AI. But that's another story,.
adrianlondon
macrumors 604
Agreed.
I don't think it'll make much difference, but it will increase awareness which is a good thing. VPNs and other workarounds will make the ban too weak to be useful, and even without social media I've seen 8-12 year olds just scroll youtube shorts and tiktok reels over and over. No account needed, just parents who don't fully understand the damage this might cause. This is much better than having an account where you share details and interact with people, but still not good for a growing person's attention span.
And no photos uploaded! I had many interesting experiences when young, but I'm glad they're not documented outside of my head and with the people I was with at the time.
boswald
macrumors 68030
Got into a fight with my girlfriend last night and she said something that not only hurt my feelings, but also haunted me since then: "You'll never find anyone else. You have too much baggage." It still stings the next day.